Category: News and Information

With Springtime closing in quickly, it’s time to check if we have the tools ready to clean up that freeze damaged landscape!

Here is some tips for our customers:

While tools are essential to completing any job, tool maintenance can be easy to forget. However, regular maintenance can help preserve the integrity and effectiveness of your tools. Here is a guide to make sure you keep your tools in optimal working order.

Keep your tools sharp

To prevent you from having to work harder, make sure you always keep your tools sharp Cutters, loppers, pruners, shovels and hoes all dull with use. Sharpen them! Use a hand file, sharpening stone, or a power tool such as an electric angle grinder.

Sometimes, the blades may be beyond repair, are chipped, or have stopped cutting effectively. In that case, it’s time to replace that tool.

Keep your tools clean

No matter what, your tools will get dirty while working, so it’s important to clean them up when you’re done using them to avoid rust and dirt buildup, which will diminish the life and effectiveness of the tool. Wash with water first. You can wipe down your tools with a towel and WD-40. If you want to avoid contaminating your soil or edible plants, try the mixture using vegetable oil instead.

If you choose to clean your tools with water, make sure you thoroughly dry them afterward. Leaving water on your tools can cause them to rust. Leave in the sun to dry before storing. (we blow ours off with compressed air or use a leaf blower)

If your tools have already accumulated rust, use a stiff wire brush to remove rust from the surface.

Keep your tools healthy

Plants, trees and soil can harbor various harmful bacteria, viruses, pests or fungi. If you do not clean your tools every time you use them, you could potentially spread infestations from one job site to the next.

To avoid spreading harmful diseases to different landscapes, wipe down your tools with alcohol wipes when using your tools on different trees or in different soil. You can also sanitize your tools in a solution of two cups of bleach for every gallon of water.

Keep your tools moving

If you have a tool with moving parts, such as springs or pivot points, be sure to keep the moving parts lubricated and cleaned out as best you can. You can wash smaller tools like you’d wash silverware. Be careful not to cut yourself on the blades.

If your tools have a lot of dust lodged in the pivot points, or leftover water after washing them, you can use compressed air to blow it out of the small crevices. Then, lubricate your tools using WD-40.

HOUSTON Channel 2 News – Justin Bielamowicz does not pull any punches when it comes to what is in store in the coming days,:“It’s going to a pretty bad one as far as what the forecast says.”

Bielamowicz, the owner of JB Irrigation, has one message for property owners in the coming days. “Any outside or outdoor plumbing piping needs to be insulated,” he said

As for those who haven’t prepared?

Bielamowicz offered up a candid assessment.

“The people that haven’t prepared,” he said. “They may be in for a rude awakening after the pipes may thaw tomorrow.”

That means the second day of the year may be filled with water shooting into the air out of a homeowner’s sprinkler system.

Bielamowicz said the key is to make sure the backflow preventer is insulated properly.

“It doesn’t take long to do, but if you don’t cover it and it does break, you are looking at an expensive repair to do,” he said.

Bielamowicz said the average repair cost is roughly $300.

Now while Bielamowicz is a professional who stresses any kind of insulation, he does offer a homemade remedy of tightly wrapping towels or even newspapers around a unit with a plastic bag protecting it.

Without the right drainage system, rainwater and landscape runoff can puddle in low spots in your yard, creating a muddy mess that can kill your grass and attract mosquitoes and other pesky insects. If left untreated, this drainage problem has the potential to grow, destroying your lawn and landscaping work and potentially leading to property damage as the water makes it’s way to your home.

Instead of using a properly installed drainage system, many homeowners try quick fixes, such as moving dirt or digging trenches and end up dissatisfied because these approaches are most often ineffective and temporary.

By having JB Irrigation install an NDS drainage system such as Flow Well and EZ Drain can protect water from puddling in low spots in your yard. Flow Well and EZ Drain capture and retain excess surface water before allowing it to naturally percolate into the ground.

We were happy to recieved a very nice testimonial in our inbox today. Teesha had an issue with her control box that was covered under warranty. All customers of JB irrigation can rest assured that we will gladly take care any warranty issue promptly.

Dear Mr. Bielamowicz,

My name is Teesha. I got your information from Ross and Tish Williams (Advantage Manhole and Concrete Services) in 2015 when I bought their house. They are like family to me so I value their opinion and so I had no questions when they recommended your company to me. You guys came out and installed a sprinkler system in my front yard. The work was done quickly and I have been satisfied ever since. This week, my control box died. I called for service and when the tech evaluated the problem it was deemed the control box needed to be replaced at a price of $200.00. Needless to say, I was more than a little bummed to be facing a $200 part + service call charge when the system is only a little over two years old. I asked the tech if he would please ask the office if the part was under any type of warranty. I was fully prepared to receive a call back from him with a no answer. To my surprise, he informed me JB Irrigation would replace the control box as a warranty part at no charge to me. I cannot thank you enough for this phenomenal customer service. While I know you have a business to run and can’t “give” your services away, please know you have earned my business from this point forward. In my eyes, you did the right thing by your customer today and sadly, this practice has sometimes become rare. I wanted to reach out and let you know how thankful I am and that I will definitely recommend your company any chance I get.

Mow your grass at a higher length (so that it is longer.) The longer blades help shade the soil, and thus reduces evaporation of water. On the other hand, scalping the grass off at a low height is definitely not good for the vigor and health of the grass. Cutting grass too short leaves the soil exposed to sunlight, which will evaporate moisture fast. Longer grass has deeper, stronger roots and is more resistant to disease and drought. Most grass should be mowed to a length of no less than 3 inches.

Do you have lawn areas wilting in the afternoon? You may have an irrigation coverage or distribution uniformity problem. Call JB Irrigation today and we can resolve these problems for you!

Run your irrigation system during the morning hours, especially if you use sprinklers. Less water is lost to evaporation when the temperature is cooler, plus in most areas the wind doesn’t blow as hard in the mornings. Watering in the evenings can lead to turf and plant disease problems because the water sits on the plants all night, especially in humid climates.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) annual Fix a Leak Week might be coming to an end, but you don’t have to wait until next year to continue saving water!

There are more ways to prevent water waste than only protecting your pipes from bursting, breaking or busting. Try these tips from JB Irrigation to conserve water all year round.

Drip Irrigation

Drip irrigation allows for low volume amounts of water to reach your plants right at the root, preventing overspray, runoff and evaporation and uses 20 to 50 percent less water than conventional pop-up sprinklers. JB Irrigation can easily convert your conventional sprinklers into drip irrigation.

Irrigation Smart Controllers

Manage your irrigation system with smart, water efficient controllers that take the guesswork out of scheduling run times, which saves time, money and water!

JB Irrigation’s smart controllers include features that factor in weather patterns, rainfall probability, temperature forecast, zone specific calculations and more to avoid over watering and prevent water waste.

Yard drains and driveway drains help remove rainwater from your property into the storm sewer or other drainage system like a catch basin or French drain to help keep your yard dry.

Check for obvious things blocking the drain like leaves, dirt, stones, toys, trash, etc. Remove any of these items that may be present with your hands or scoop if possible. If there is a grate on the yard drain, remove it so you can get a better look into the drain pipe. If there is additional debris viewable in the drain pipe, try to move it carefully without damaging the pipe itself.

Your property may have one or more drain cleanout or inspection portals likely located near the house, or by the street (closer to the storm sewer) or on some other location in your yard depending on how your yard is setup to handle the water drainage. Run water from a hose through your yard drain, you should see water flowing through the inspection portal towards the storm sewer or other drainage area. If you do not see a flow of water, or only a small flow of water, this could be the sign of a more serious clog including tree roots in the drain pipes or you may have broken pipes.

If you have trees on your property, making tree roots a likely candidate for blocking your yard drain, or if you suspect it is simply a more stubborn clog of dirt and debris, you can call JB Irrigation & Services as we now provide outdoor drain cleaning. JB uses a hydro-jet to clear the problems. Nasty root and other debris related clogs can be challenging to handle, so call JB Irrigation and an experienced professional will take on this job for you. Once the clog has been pulled out or pushed through the yard drain, you should be able to see water freely flowing through both the problem drain and through to the outlet. Stubborn clogs may require using the hydro-jet from both the drain side and the outlet side of the drain to break them loose.

If the hydro-jet does not allow penetration of the clogged area and what is being removed from the drain is dirt, mud and stones, this is the sign of a broken yard drain pipe that must be replaced. JB Irrigation and Services is a yard drain repair expert, having performed hundreds of broken drain pipe replacement projects. To setup an appointment and have your drain cleaned and if necessary repaired by a trained JB Irrigation professional, call us at 281-744-6909 or use this link to our contact form.

Smart Irrigation Month is a public awareness campaign to promote efficient water use. Focused on July, traditionally the month of peak demand for outdoor water use, the campaign highlights simple practices and innovative technologies to:

Property owners and managers typically overwater, unintentionally wasting money every time they take out the hose or turn on the sprinklers. JB Irrigation and Services, a leader in smart water-saving practices, is delivering real results by:

Helping customers plant and maintain low water landscapes that will thrive in their climate and site conditions.

In warm climates, perform at least quarterly irrigation checks to find leaks and any other issues.
Check the controller to ensure the settings and schedule are right for the season! Check sprinkler heads, nozzles, valves and pipes to make sure everything is in good working condition. Run the system to check for coverage, overspray and runoff.